The Achilles Heel of Contraband of War policy was how it only applied to the slaves of disloyal owners. It did not take into account the desire of slaves to be free, regardless of their owner’s stance about secession. Likewise, the policy did not reckon with the distaste of northern troops in returning fugitive slaves. Such sentiments were a prescription for trouble in early Summer 1861 as northern units moved into states like Maryland with many slaveholders still loyal to the Union and presumably not subject to the seizure of their slaves.

One such episode which made its way into the official record began on June 25, 1861, with a letter from Adjutant General’s Office at the War Department to Irvin McDowell in command of the Army of Northeastern Virginia. The letter read:

What motivated the Ohio soldiers to give George sanctuary was never clarified. Perhaps they already held abolitionist sentiments. Perhaps they did not like what they saw of slavery as they made their way through Maryland to Virginia. Perhaps they were persuaded by tales of mistreatment from George himself. Perhaps he offered to work for them as a servant in return for refuge in their camp. Maybe it was some or all of these reasons. However, what is beyond question is that not only the initiative of slaves escaping to the Union army started to undermine slavery, but also the initiative of individual soldiers who gave them sanctuary–in the loyal border as well as the Confederacy. Together, they undermined the Contraband of War policy by stretching it to include human property that Union leaders had never sought to include: the slaves of loyal owners.

Author’s Note: there will be more on this case after the 4th of July holiday.

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About Donald R. Shaffer

Donald R. Shaffer is the author of _After the Glory: The Struggles of Black Civil War Veterans_ (Kansas, 2004), which won the Peter Seaborg Award for Civil War Scholarship in 2005. More recently he published (with Elizabeth Regosin), _Voices of Emancipation: Understanding Slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction through the U.S. Pension Bureau Files_ (2008). Dr. Shaffer teaches online exclusively (i.e., a virtual professor). He lives in Arizona and can be contacted at donald_shaffer@yahoo.com